POV-Ray For Mere Mortals: Cinematic-quality 3D illustration and animation using free tools

Type: Workshop
Program Area: Arts

Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 10:30 AM (90 minutes)

Location: Workshop Pavilion

Want to learn how to make killer 3D technical graphics and animations? With free tools?

I will give an tutorial on technical graphics with POV-Ray, a free cross-platform 3D ray tracing application that has extremely high quality output. POV-Ray has a text-based interface--essentially a programming language for graphics, which makes it ideal for technical illustrations, simulations, and virtual prototyping of projects. These factors make POV-Ray an all-around useful tool for do-it-yourselfers.

I'll help you jump right in and get started with 3D illustration. In the first part, I'll give a flavor of what the program is capable of and then demonstrate how to make simple objects in POV-Ray's scene description language. To get the most out of this workshop, bring your laptop along and get your hands dirty coding some interesting looking objects. After that, I'll show how to make animations, render more efficiently, and introduce some advanced features.

Related site: http://www.windell.oskay.net/pov/

Presented by

Windell Oskay
N/A

An atomic physicist by training, I've been employed as a quantum mechanic, (atomic) clock maker, and cartoonist. I now work for a small silicon-valley company designing scientific instruments. I once put an "Ooga" horn on a tandem cruiser bike. Some of the other projects that I've designed and built include a carbon-fiber electric guitar, hard-drive wind chimes, nixie clocks made from vintage HP electronic counters, and electric RC model hovercrafts. I like cooking, birdwatching, and vintage bikes.